bulbs blowing

rondeco

I'm just back from holidays on sunday and since then three bulbs in the house have blown. The week I was departing the house, two more bulbs blew. Can anyone offer a reason for this? five bulbs in such a short space of time?

amerden

It may be as simple as all the bulbs in the house are the same age, i.e. all put in at the same time, and have probably come to the end of their life.

Gordon Gekko

Are they spotlights/recessed lights by any chance?

Are they blowing too frequently? I have heard that recessed lightbulbs are a nightmare if they don't have enough ventilation above them - they overheat and blow very regularly in that case apparently.

Otherwise if they're just normal bulbs and are lasting roughly the length of time you'd expect, as suggested above it could be that they were just all put in around the same time.

TempestSabre

We went through a batch of that. Did you buy them all at the same time, (was it a new house etc). We used a cheaper brand for a while and even had some explode! Power surges can cause this. I switched a lot of our bulbs to powersavers, and because they light up slower they are less prone to blowing.

rubadub

Yes, some people let a bulb or 2 blow and dont bother replaceing since there is still enough light. When it get to the stage that it is noticeably dark they replace the lot in one go.

I wonder if it could be because the house was cold when you went on holidays, dont know if condensation or something could get in?

GreeBo

Also try not to touch the glass with your bare hands/fingers when putting them in.
Apparently the oils on your skin can reduce the lifespan of bulbs, esp. halogen etc.